Methodology, Skills and Professional Benefits Participants Participants' Comments MEDICI Head of Training «The 12 Labours of Hercules» Report of the Reports – Workshops 1 to 4

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Fifth Workshop – Tuesday 29 September to Thursday 1 October 2015 in Santpoort, Netherlands

Module 7 – Development – An underestimated stage in the production process?

Most of the projects applying for production subsidies are considered by evaluation committee members or commissioners as not ready for production. There are a few reasons, such as: the necessity for producers to produce in order to "earn" money for their company, the access to feedback that they can communicate to their director and scriptwriter, the pressure from their director to go into production as soon as possible, etc.

Or, in other words:

• What is the level of money dedicated by funds for development?
• What do funds consider as development expenses?
• Are co-productions eligible for those funds?
• What about co-development fund initiatives?

Danish Film Institute (DFI) and its development schemes

Claus Ladegaard, Deputy Director and Head of Film Funding of the Danish Film Institute

Please also see:

• Claus Ladegaard’s presentation (PDF)
• Questions to Claus Ladegaard (PDF)

Introduction

• DFI is funded by the Danish government and it is THE funding institution in Denmark because it is almost impossible to make a feature-length film without DFI support.
• Support is chiefly based on quality criteria that differ from scheme to scheme, but films must have either artistic quality of some kind or cultural value.
• The DFI funding budget is 45 million Euros a year. The fund allocates around 20 million Euros for feature films per year (11 million for the arthouse scheme and 8 million for the market scheme).
• Every year it supports around 20 fiction films, 30-35 documentaries, a couple of drama series, 10-12 talent films, production of digital games and development of transmedia projects.
• Feature films have the domestic market share of 25-30%.
• The fund significantly focuses on low-budget films: small size low-budget films (400 000 Euros) and big-size low budget films (800 000 Euros).

DFI’s funding schemes (development + production)

• Commissioners’ scheme
  • For art-house films
  • DFI funding represents almost 100% of the development costs
  • Run by Commissioning Editors
• New Danish Screen scheme
  • A talent-development scheme
  • DFI funding represents almost 100% of the financing
  • Decision taken by commissioning editors
• Market scheme for the mainstream, producer-driven:
  • 60% of the funding in place before the DFI can step in
  • Films with audience appeal, cultural value and festival potential
  • Decisions taken by the editorial board consisting of 5 people
  • Typical examples from this scheme are Suzanne Bier’s “In a Better World” and Nikolaj Arcel’s “A Royal Affair”
• Short-film scheme is being phased out
• Game Development and transmedia development scheme

“Challenge the usual way” – DFI’s Development Philosophy

• DFI usually funds 2 to 4 different development stages. But it can be up to 6 or 7 stages, depending on the project. First development funding available:
  • at a very early stage (with one-page description of a project)
  • in the middle of script-writing
  • when the script is already finished
  • an advanced-development funding is also possible
• DFI is a fund but also a developing partner.
• Non-interference policy: their role is to point to every problem, but never to provide solutions.
• Development is underlined in the Fund’s policy. They talk about it with both the industry and commissioning editors and other people working at the DFI. They organise development seminars.
• Development funding has increased from 5% to 12% of DFI’s budget in the past decade. DFI will keep increasing it until it reaches 20%. The development funding for arthouse films has increased from 7% to 17% and from 1% to 7% when it comes to the market scheme’s films.
• DFI closed its automatic scheme and redirected part of that money to the Development scheme.
• Strategies from developing documentaries and animation films can be translated into fiction projects as well.
• Development of fiction film in many countries starts only after the script has been finished. In the DFI’s opinion, this is not development but pre-production. Development has to start even before the writing begins.

DFI’s development methods based on the “point of departure” approach

a) Development starting from premise

• The premise is the key sentence that defines one’s project.
• The crucial thing is to talk all the time about the premise, and not only with the funders, but also with the director, DoP, editor, production designer, or anyone else attached to a film.
• DFI can give a director an opportunity to produce a couple of minutes of an intended film, without a story line, for nothing else but for finding an inspiration towards the premise.

b) Development starting from characters

• Some scriptwriters interact with actors during the scriptwriting process. It could be the actors that will appear in the film, or some random actors that try to set a scene or tone in different ways to inspire further ideas for the script. Such improvisations could be done before or during the scriptwriting process, the idea behind this being to discover new characters, stories and conflicts.
• Some scriptwriters cast non-professional actors and develop scripts while working with them. This method resulted in a new genre called hyperrealism

c) Development starting from subject matter/content

• It involves all kinds of research regarding the visual material. One can edit elements of his/her story, using the existing footage as a pre-form for the script. Producers usually use the rip-reel method to cast a director. They, in fact, give a director a script and ask him/her to cut the trailer using the existing footage – to rip it out of the existing films.
• Test shootings in a difficult location or hostile environment can also be funded during the script-writing process.
• Making a concept bible, describing characters (what they can do, what they cannot do, what the writer knows about them, and what audience should know about them).
• Creating an animatic of the whole live-action film. Denmark had a film in Cannes last year called “Salvation”. The director did the full animatic for this 2-hour feature film. He did it as he was very strong with visuals, but not very strong in mise-en-scène and directing actors. He wanted to be fully aware of how the film was going to look visually so that he could fully concentrate on the actors on set.
• Visual storyboard as a pre-form for the script.
• Developing a fiction script for a documentary to discover the ideal narrative.

d) Development starting from visuals

• Making a booklet of photos and drawings to communicate the premise to the rest of the crew, production designer, or anyone else who works with costumes, etc.
• Creating a mood board or mood video.
• Workshops with DoP, production designer and costume designer, to develop visual guides and references.
• Working with people from other art forms. The DFI had a script that was mainly based on conversation between two people sitting in one room. The project’s creative team asked a couple of theatre production designers to be part of the development process because they have a completely different artistic experience in stage design. They eventually used the lights from the theatre and photography.

e) Development starting from locations

• Finding locations quite early in the script writing process, and in collaboration with production designers, can, from the very beginning, set necessary limitations regarding the script. The plot, production concept, budget and financing, can be inspired by a chosen location.

f) Development starting from sound

• Music and sound can help to define a film and develop its story. Some projects have composers attached quite early, trying to find the mood for a film.

g) Development starting from technical solutions

• Shooting film sequences to test lighting, sound, camera-work and editing, and technical testing of key visual effects can be part of the script development instead of pre-production.

h) Development starting from production

• Using production concepts as a scriptwriting framework by defining specific conditions like shooting days, number of locations, exterior/interior, etc.
• Director and producer should assemble the crew that can contribute to development both creatively and production-wise (testing the collaboration between the director and DoP, etc.).
• Exploring co-production opportunities with a potential co-producing country.
• Doing necessary breakdowns to ensure that script and budget are synchronized.

But

• Many scripts still could be made without consulting any production concept

j) Development starting from financing

• A good financing strategy can sharpen the script and the entire development process.
• Producing a pitch-trailer or a sequence to present the project to financers during industry events. Thus testing if you can pitch and sell your film or describe quickly what the film is about.
• Producing sales materials.

k) Development starting from audience and promotion

• Resolving what the director and film want to tell the audiences.
• Create a website or blog to gather interested people around a film project and communicate with potential audiences.
• Interactive scriptwriting via social media where the audience is in dialogue with the writer or director.
• Testing a possible positioning and target group for the film.
• Examining audience expectations in terms of the adapted book, theme, director, historical figure or event.
• Investigating the audience’s attitude in terms of relevance and identification

But

• Although you can gather plenty of useful material for script from the audience, you must not let the audience write your script.
• The interaction with audiences does not work if the writer and director do not have a clear premise. It does not help them create a vision, but tightens and strengthens the already existing one.

Side effects of DFI’s development schemes

• Too much emphasis on development can create the illusion that “everything can be developed”.
• Sometimes there are too many overlong development processes.
• Some projects should simply go straight to production without long development.
• How to know when a quick rejection is better than a long development?
• Continuous risk-taking.
• It is not difficult for commissioning editors to see a good idea and say yes to it. However, it is very difficult to see a half a good idea, or very pre-mature idea, and be able to imagine how it can be developed to the stage when it can promise a good film.

Other implications

• Constant tabloid discourse in the media.
• Every big Danish newspaper has journalists that go through the DFI’s lists of projects and discover that some directors get 200,000 Euros for the projects that are closed. They label it as a waste of money and a catastrophe and, as a result, the DFI receives a lot of questions about what is going to be done.
• They need to convince the policy makers and the public that research and development is as important for films as it is for the medical business, etc.
• Important to recruit the right people who have experience with development.

DFI Development Projects – Case Studies

War (Krigen), 2015 – Feature fiction film directed by Tobias Lindholm

Premiered at the Venice Film Festival, Danish entry for the best foreign language film Academy Award.

The film is about Danish soldiers in Afghanistan. One officer is trying to save the life of one soldier and the cost of that attempt is the lives of 11 other soldiers. He ends up in court and most of the film is set in courtrooms.

• The development budget was 122,000 Euros.
• DFI funded 70%. There were three development stages.
• The original part of the scriptwriting process was the collaboration of a number of veterans from Afghanistan and their wives.
• The director/writer also casted a number of veteran soldiers and Afghan refugees for the shooting.
• DFI financed the test-shootings with MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) fighters. The project team found, at an early development stage, the shooting location in Turkey, which significantly determined the script.
• Production concept, as well as budget and financing was created alongside the scriptwriting.

Forever 13 (in development)

• Still in development and still to be determined if it will be made.
• So far, the DFI gave 92% of the development budget amounting to 53,000 Euros.
• The development includes collective scriptwriting with girls aged 13-15 using an interactive website, images, sound, blogs, etc.
• A casting agent is attached to the project in the development stage and he is already checking out the girls’ contributing to the project. Some of them will act in the movie.

Conclusions

• Start supporting development of a project as early as possible.
• Invite other people to take part in development.
• Share. Challenge the traditional practice according to which an artist contemplates and produces a piece of art before he shares his ideas.
• Development is a team sport. An academic study in Denmark showed that those who develop with others get more films done.
• Development is the phase when originality of films is determined.
• Funding underdeveloped projects is more expensive than funding a long development.
• Have a broad understanding of development. It should include everything before pre-production.

International co-productions, Development, Gender and quotas

• Module 1 – Co-production: Landscape (volume, co-production treaties, cinema vs television, financial, non-official)
• Module 2 – Co-productions: Financing issues: for the producers, for the funds (specific programmes, decision timeline, recoupment, financial co-production)
• Module 3 – Co-productions: Legal and Financial Issues
• Module 4 – Distribution: co-production opens access to other countries, does the audience follow?
• Module 5 – Gender / Quotas Issue – Update on Funds’ Strategies
• Module 6 – What to foresee in the next ten years based on what’s going on now?
• Module 7 – Development – An underestimated stage in the production process?

• List of Participants (PDF)
• MEDICI Fifth Workshop Full Report (PDF)

Illustrations by Gijs van der Lelij

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